Secrets Revealed
by i.was.kitten
Summary: Sequel to Visitor From the Future. Silver now lives with Aurora & Waya, but are still looking for the answers to their questions. Not to mention, something interesting goes on with Aurora and the wolf-boy Waya. Of course, just when things are getting good, things get worse when a familiar monster looms over our heroes. I don't own Sonic. Just Aurora and Waya.
1. Seas & Sands of Questions

**Chapter 1: Seas and Sands of Questions**

On a planet called Mobius, there lived giant talking animal-like people and had some humans living there. There was one human girl on that planet who was from another world called Earth where it's mostly inhabited by humans.

The thing was: She woke up on Mobius a while back with no memory of how she came to be. She just found herself in grassy field of hills where she met the fastest thing in the world Sonic the Hedgehog a blue hedgehog who volunteered to help her get some answers to her being on his planet.

He introduced her to his friends, Miles "Tails" Prower, an orange fox who was a scientist with two tails; Amy Rose a pink hedgehog who has enough strength to swing a giant hammer with ease; Cream the Rabbit with ears big enough to use as wings; and a little yellow and blue creature called a Chao named Cheese.

She made quick friends with them all, but found an enemy in Sonic's old nemesis, a human scientist Dr. Eggman who wanted her for some reason. Of course, Sonic protected her, but her hiding from the mad scientist made her go to Angel Island where she met Knuckles the Echidna and guardian of the Master Emerald which led her to Shadow the Hedgehog and his G.U.N., Rouge the Bat and a robot named Omega E-123.

Despite the friends she made who tried to keep her out of Eggman's hands, she ended up captured and Eggman explained to her that she possessed a special energy that he used to power up a machine that could destroy lands, but his plans were thwarted when Aurora used her aura with the help of a yellow Chaos Emerald, a magical and powerful gem to rescue Sonic and Shadow who destroyed the destructive machine.

Then Aurora had to take refuge to the mountains north from G.U.N. where she'd be safe from Eggman until Sonic and the others can find all the Chaos Emeralds and lock them up so Eggman wouldn't use them to power up Aurora's aura again.

On the mountains of Forgotten Peak, Aurora dreamed of a howling boy who turned into a wolf and her dreams came to realize when a boy, an Owayan named Waya came the next day, injured and weak in her yard.

She tended to him, keeping her identity a secret much to the insistence of Shadow who distrusted him. Apparently, Waya had secrets of his own, such as hiding a red gem which was a Chaos Emerald that was found by his people who went mad when an evil man destroyed their families and homes years ago when Waya was a little boy.

Waya wanted to keep the gem's power away from his insane people and ran away with hit, the said people chasing him everywhere he went. He hoped to get rid of it so they wouldn't use the gem to hurt more people like they did to a family when they destroyed their home.

Both Waya and Aurora, despite the secrecy, became close friends, and when Waya was fully recovered, Aurora had to bid him farewell, not knowing Waya hid the gem under his bedroom floor, hoping it would be safe in her home.

Sadly, he was found by two of his former friends who smelled Aurora's scent on him leading them to Aurora, capturing her and taking her to their hide out at the Cave of Life along with the recovered red emerald.

At the cave, Aurora and Waya were reunited and told each other the truth about themselves while their captors told their leader Tara about the girl's knowledge and power on the emerald which she used to attack one of her captors, piquing Tara's interest and making him order them to bring her to him to question her.

Thankfully, Shadow tracked Aurora and Waya to come to their rescue. Tara overpowered Shadow at first and took his young friends outside of the cave just when the black hedgehog woke up to see Tara bargaining with Aurora to share her knowledge of the Chaos Emerald in return for Waya's safety.

Little did they all know, Aurora had a plan to use the emerald to turn the tables on the Owayans by changing them into animals which they were all named after to teach them a lesson for letting their hunger for revenge corrupt them so and declared that they would change back once they have learned from their mistakes.

Tara threatened Waya's life if she didn't change his followers back, but Shadow saved Waya and chased Tara back into the Cave of Life where he tussled with Waya who begged Aurora to change his former leader while he had him down.

Aurora was hesitant, not wanting to change Waya, too, but he and Shadow insisted that she should and sadly, she changed Tara into a raptor and Waya into the wolf she would have dreams about.

Tara tried to destroy them by causing a cave-in and escaping only to be caught in Waya's teeth who held him down and bought Aurora and Shadow enough time to escape. Shadow took the red emerald and teleported them both to safety having no choice but to leave Waya behind.

Aurora, weak from using the emerald, had a dream of Waya telling her he would come back to her alive and that morning, he did, a bit hurt, though. Aurora tried to turn him back into a human with the red gem, but to no avail. Thankfully, Waya still had the mind of a person and he could speak to Aurora with his mind if their foreheads touched.

Waya happily stayed with Aurora until his people learned from their mistakes and turn back, which Aurora think would help Waya change back, too, since he did nothing wrong and didn't deserve to be punished.

Not long afterwards, a young white hedgehog with telekinetic powers named Silver arrives to them from the future, telling them about a voice that brought him to this time and telling him he'd find help from his two new friends.

Aurora and Waya were glad to help and told Sonic and the others who were willing to lend Silver a hand and searched for the Chaos Emeralds. Silver helped look for the remaining Chaos Emeralds at daylight, but stayed with Aurora and Waya at Forgotten Peak at evening.

He grew fond of them both and they him as well. Then, Aurora had a dream of Silver's life in peril which she told Shadow, Waya, and last of all, Silver about. Shadow took her dreams seriously because usually had would come true. Silver believed Aurora, but feared more for her and Waya's life than his. Suppose whoever wanted to destroy him would harm his friends, too.

So he decided to stay away from Forgotten Peak for a while, staying with Knuckles on Angel Island. There, he had a dream of Aurora being trapped in a net, being swallowed up by shadows. Silver called Aurora and Waya and found to his relief they were all right.

After that, Silver and Sonic along with Tails, Shadow, and Knuckles, agreed to lure out Silver's attackers by drawing their attention with Silver's telekinetic powers. For the first few hours, no one came. As they flew to find another place to draw their attention, Silver looked to see Aurora trapped in a net, just like in his nightmare. He flew down immediately and went to rescue her, but to him and his friends' dismay, it was a trap set up by Eggman whose robot used its holographic projector to make him think Aurora was there and thus capturing the white hedgehog, taking him to Eggman's hideout.

Aurora and Waya were immediately notified and they both insisted they come and rescue their friend. Knuckles brought one of the found Chaos Emeralds for Aurora to use to power her aura in case of emergency. When they followed the robot's trail to a cave, Waya used his sense of smell to track Silver into the place and found Silver being controlled by Eggman who ordered him to destroy the others and capture Aurora.

Aurora used the green emerald she was given and used her aura to set Silver free from Eggman's control and gave the emerald to Shadow to use it to destroy Eggman's abandoned hideout while the others were on their way back to Forgotten Peak to drop Aurora, Waya, and Silver off.

On the way, they met up with Eggman's army of Egg-bots. Silver was ordered to take Aurora and Waya to safety in a forest nearby while Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles take down the robot army. Silver hides them in a small cave in a hollow and calls Shadow for help who finds a disk labeled about special energies which is what Eggman calls Aurora's aura.

Once Shadow heard Silver's distress calls, he goes to them right away. Eggman searches in the woods for Silver and Aurora in a robot, but Waya leads him away to Sonic and the others in the field where they were fighting, giving his two friends time to escape and hide elsewhere in the woods.

Unfortunately, Eggman discovers Waya's intentions and hurts the brave wolf-boy. Waya howls for help, which brings Shadow to him, taking him with to find Aurora and Silver. Eggman finds the two after causing a forest fire and Silver punches one of his robot's arms to pieces and Sonic and the others come to the rescue.

Tails takes Silver and Aurora who calls for Shadow who teleports himself and Waya on Tails's jet and goes down to help Sonic and Knuckles fight Eggman in his robot.

Silver, wanting to make up for his mistakes, flies off to a lake and uses his telekinesis to pick up the water and put out all of the fire. Sonic and the others defeat the robot, but find that Eggman was never in it, irritating them.

To their surprise, however, they see Silver putting out the fire with the lake's water and praise him for his actions, which he didn't think he deserved. Shadow teleports them all to Tails with Aurora tending to Waya who was badly hurt from Eggman's robot's hit and Shadow brings them to the hidden village of Healing Brook where Healer Thomas and the others healers save Waya and invite their guests to spend the night.

That morning, Healer Thomas and a young warrior named Ryan were told of Silver's story as well as Aurora's connection with Waya. Aurora tries to use the emerald again to change Waya back into a human boy, but sadly fails again. Thomas advises she waits a week until her strength comes back to use the gem again with Shadow agreeing she can keep the green emerald, but asks her not to do so until he is there to see for himself.

Aurora, Silver, and Waya were taken back to their mountain home again and on the way, Aurora discovers that she can understand what Waya is saying without touching her forehead to his. They declare that after using the emeralds, they have strengthen her aura to enable her to understand Waya's speech.

Waya is happy that Aurora can hear him from his mouth without the aid to touch heads anymore and the two and their friend Silver are happy to be home, joyful to live together again.

Meanwhile, Shadow, who had found the disk at Eggman's hideout about special energies gives it to Omega to unlock. Back at Forgotten Peak, Silver dreams of hearing the voice who tells him he must help Aurora that something is coming, making him worry about her again, wondering what might come after her...

The next morning afterwards, the lone mountains of Forgotten Peak, the dawn was slowly rising, spreading its warm rays, waking up the birds in their nests in the trees, singing good morning to the forest, flying in search for breakfast. The flowers' buds burst in bloom, waking up from their slumber inviting bees to come to eat on them and spread their pollen to make more flowers. Furry animals of rabbits and squirrels come out and search for food, happy to have a home safe from predators.

The sunlight finds the only old pink-red-and-purple house and shines on the tri-colored home brightly. In the bedrooms of Silver and Aurora who were sleeping soundly, are woken by a too-familiar howl.

Aurora sighed and slowly lifted her head from her pillow, raising a slightly annoyed eyebrow. She forced herself out of bed and opens the window to see her wolf-friend Waya howling at the sun like a crowing rooster. Sometimes, she wished he wouldn't do this, especially so early, but she knew he was an early riser, but still, she'd like to sleep in every once in a while.

"Waya!" she called to him, making him stop and turn to her. When he saw how a little less than amused she looked, his ears flattened nervously. "Must we do this every morning?" she sang, keeping her voice level.

"Sorry, Aurora," Waya apologized. "You know how I am."

"Yes, I know," she nodded.

Then, Silver comes to the window and sees his friends. He looks over to see Waya and says, "Oh, there you are." To Aurora, he explained, "Waya stopped howling earlier than usual and I was worried what happened."

"Nah, he's fine," Aurora reassured with a wave of her hand, "I was the one who interrupted him."

"Well, how did we sleep well?" Waya asked since they were up.

"What'd he say?" Silver asked Aurora since she was the only one who could understand him. To Aurora, Waya, speaks like a person, but to everyone, he barks like the wolf he is.

"He asking us how we slept," she answered, an elbow resting on the window sill, her chin resting on the back of her hand. "Well, one of us would've liked to sleep in, but I'm not gonna name any names."

Silver grinned at her slight grumpiness and told Waya, "I slept well myself." Other than the dream he had of the voice speaking to him, but he wasn't sure what how to explain that yet.

"Well," Aurora announced, with a clap of her hands, "now that we're all up, why don't we get breakfast started and get on with our day?" The white boys nod in agreement and come inside to eat breakfast at the table and after watching Aurora do her work-out moves which she learned from Shadow who was teaching her self-defense.

Speakin' of Shadow, after Aurora's done, Shadow comes and finds Aurora sitting on the grass panting from exhaustion. "Ah, I see my student is working hard as usual," Shadow observed with a pleased grin.

Aurora smiled gratefully at his compliment and stands up, wiping the grass off her. "You know it," she replied to her dark hedgehog mentor.

"Guess this means I'd better be going," Silver pronounced, standing up from his spot next to Waya, walking up to Shadow. They agree to let Silver have the day off tomorrow and come back on the search for the two Chaos Emeralds.

Shadow nodded. "I hope you have your wrist communicator this time," he said in a warning tone. When Silver had left for Knuckles's home, he accidentally left his wrist com which in Shadow's opinion was careless.

"Yes, sir," Silver answered, holding up his wrist for him to see it strapped on.

"Good," Shadow said, then looked at Aurora and Waya, "We'll see you guys later. Come on, Silver. We've got a busy day today." After their last fight with Eggman the other night, the mad scientist's warning still bothered him and he was more determined than ever to find all of the Chaos Emeralds so he'd never use them to enhance Aurora's aura again.

Silver nodded obediently. He was just as determined because Aurora had thought it'd be good to use all eight Chaos Emeralds for him, Sonic, and Shadow to go Super to restore the health in his time to save Mobius. However, Silver wasn't too sure. He had met Sonic and Shadow in the past himself, but when he came back, they didn't seem to remember him, and he made sure for the time-line's sake to keep it that way to save everyone from a time paradox. During his first meeting with them when they went Super, they didn't restore a planet's health, but defeated enemies.

Even Sonic and Shadow weren't sure if going Super would help, but they had to try to help Silver somehow. So Shadow and Silver bid Aurora and Waya farewell with Shadow running fast and Silver following in the air. Unlike Sonic and Shadow who were fast on their feet, he was faster in the air.

"So where do we start today?" Silver asked when he lowered himself down next to Shadow.

"South," Shadow replied, not looking at him, his eyes fixed on the road. "Sonic and Tails are already there and once we meet up, we split up in two groups. I'd rather we don't go alone." Shadow didn't want to risk Silver being by himself should Eggman find him on his own, but he didn't tell Silver that.

"What about Rouge and Omega?" Silver asked curiously. "Aren't they coming?"

"They have something else to do," Shadow answered, explaining what it was. "Once they're done, they can join us. Can't say when they'll be done."

Actually, they were doing an assignment for Shadow. He Omega was still unlocking the discovered disk's secrets and Rouge stayed to give him a hand. Shadow was sure that it held the information they needed to learn more about Aurora's aura, why she has it and why it's so powerful and what else she can do with it.

Silver tilted his head wondering what was going on in Shadow's head since he looked like he was lost in thought. It seemed to him, Shadow was always keeping things to himself, but he knew better than to pry so he kept silent.

* * *

On Angel Island, a floating island high in the sky, far away from the world of Mobius below, lives a red echidna named Knuckles, a guardian of the island and the Master Emerald, a giant emerald that keeps the island afloat.

Knuckles was on top of the pedestal, looking at the large jewel he had been guarding for such a long time. He was thinking about the others who were searching for the remaining Chaos Emerald. He would've liked to join the search, but he had to stay on the island where the found Chaos Emeralds were safely hidden.

He also thought about Aurora's having the green emerald he had lent to her and remembered Thomas's advice to wait to work it to use her aura to help Waya again. He, himself, had been worried about Aurora using her power with the gem's last night because the first time she used a yellow emerald, she was very hurt after saving Sonic and Shadow from a giant robot which could've been more of the reason for her injuries than the emerald and the other time afterwards when she used the red emerald Waya had found and kept away from his mad people whom Aurora turned into animals along with Waya by accident.

Both emeralds had made her weak and caused her to lose consciousness just like the other night when she used the green emerald to free Silver from Eggman's mind control chip just by merely touching it and after giving it to Shadow, she felt into a deep slumber again.

He was glad the last two times only made her very tired, but still...even with her aura, she is human and humans couldn't work an emerald and their power could really hurt them. Still, when Shadow suggested at the Healing Brook that her aura gets stronger after using the emerald, Knuckles began to wonder more and more about this...

He closed his eyes and folded his arms in thought, trying to make sense of this. "With the emeralds' help, she can do all kinds of things to help," he murmured. "She can fly, she can go in and out through a metal robot, she can change people into animals, she can magically free someone from others' control with just a touch, and she can understand Waya... What else is there about her aura we don't know about?"

He opened his eyes and looked at the Master Emerald again. He wished it could tell him. After all, the Chaos Emeralds are connected to the bigger emerald...but it was not that easy. "Not that things are ever that easy," he remarked with a grunt. He sighed and sat down on his back, looking at the sky, the clouds looking closer since his island home was so high up. His hands were folded behind his head and he closed his eyes, still wondering about these mysteries as he drifted off to sleep.

Suddenly, he heard a whisper in his ears. "So many questions."

"What?" Knuckles bolted upright to see the owner of the voice, but when he opened his eyes, he saw he wasn't on Angel Island anymore. "Where am I?" he asked, looking around as he got up. Where he found himself was in the air overlooking an ocean and he looked below to see himself standing about an inch above the water.

"What in the...? Okay, whoever or whatever brought me here better tell me what's goin' on," he demanded.

"So many questions, so desperate for the answers," said a male voice in his ears.

"Well, yeah, especially since I'm standing above an ocean far away from my sky island home," he replied bluntly. "Who are you, anyway? And where are you?"

"The answers are so close and yet so far away," the voice answered.

"Okay...and what is that supposed to mean?" Knuckles asked, getting more confused by the second.

"The answers are within your reach," the voice said. "You will find them, you and your friends."

"Hey, are you saying you know something about Aurora's aura?" Knuckles queried. "If you do, then tell me, why does a human like her have it and how is it tied with the Chaos Emeralds?"

"A sea of many questions," the voice replied softly. "You need only to swim for the shore to find out what you need to know."

"Okay, so where is land?" Knuckles asked, then felt worried when he looked at the water beneath him. "Hang on, you're not really gonna make me swim there, are you?"

"No...the swimming will not be for you," the voice answered. "Only for those who desire the answers more."

Knuckles tilted his head, feeling more confused than ever, but the next thing he knew, the sea disappeared and he found himself in Angel Island next to the Master Emerald again. "Well, that was weird," he remarked. "But what are you talking about?" he asked the voice, looking at the sky. No answer came. He raised an eyebrow and looked at the emerald again.

"Hmm...this sort of reminds me of the time when Tikal spoke to me like this...but this time, it was a male's voice," he affirmed... "But what was it trying to tell me?" He sighed in exasperation. "Like I said, things are never that easy."

* * *

At G.U.N. H.Q., Rouge the Bat and her robot teammate Omega were in a room alone with Omega trying to unlock the disc again, but there was a password he could not find and he went through every word in the dictionary to figure it out.

Rouge on a chair, was getting bored and bored by the minute as Omega's slow progress. "I know this is just wasting my breath, but have you figured it out yet?" she asked hopefully.

"If I have, I would have told you," the robot answered simply as he concentrated to find the password.

"Right, sorry," she apologized, looking away. "But here's an idea: Try Eggman's name."

"I have," Omega said, "I even wrote. Dr. Ivon Robotnik."

"No-go, huh?"

"No," the robot answered sadly.

For over an hour, Omega had been workin' to unlock the disc that may have the answers to Aurora's aura but to no luck whatsoever.

"Maybe it's a word we wouldn't think of," she suggested. "Try Sonic."

Omega gave it a try and said, "No, that is not it."

"Then try, 'Curse you, Hedgehog!'" she said, mocking Eggman.

Omega tried that, too, and still, "No."

Rouge's shoulders sacked and she leaned back and groaned. "If that egghead knew about this, he'd be laughing right now."

"I will keep looking through the dictionary," Omega pronounced.

"Just hope the word doesn't start with a Z," she mumbled, her hand on her forehead. As she let Omega continue with his work, she wondered how Shadow and the others were on the search for the last two Chaos Emeralds. She and Omega were relieved that they had been able to save Silver, but she wondered more and more about Aurora's aura that helped her save Silver and helps her understand Waya better just by listening to him barking words for her to translate them into English.

Not to mention, she remembered Silver talking about a voice that brought him here to their time, saying he'd find help restoring life back to Mobius in his time, but with all eight Chaos Emeralds...? Would that even work?

"Just who is this voice...?" she whispered so quietly so Omega wouldn't hear her.

* * *

Silver and Shadow met up with Sonic and Tails at the south and split up in two teams as Shadow wanted. Sonic and Tails went east and the others went west. Silver and Shadow were in a sandy desert and went over dunes.

Silver hoped neither of the last two emeralds were buried in the sand because in this vast desert that would be very difficult. As they kept moving, Silver about his dream of the voice last night and wondered if he should tell Shadow about it. He knew that Shadow cared about Aurora as much as he did and knew he would most definitely want to know about anything that would put Aurora in danger.

His mind made up, he called below to the running black hedgehog, "Hey, Shadow." He looked up to the white flying hedgehog at the call of his name. "There's something I have to tell you about."

Shadow stopped and Silver landed in front of him. "What is it?" Shadow asked.

"I..." he began, trying to figure how to explain, "I had a dream last night and it was the voice, the same voice that brought me here... It had something to tell me."

"What it'd have to say?" he asked, feeling interested.

"He said I wasn't done helping Aurora yet," he answered, hesitantly, "He said that something is coming."

"What's coming?" Shadow said, feeling concerned.

"That was all it said," Silver said regretfully, looking away. "I didn't know how to tell Aurora and Waya, but I knew you of all people would want to know, so I thought I should tell you if not them first."

Shadow's face looked troubled and he grew silent with worry. Normally, he would hear about dreams from Aurora, but from Silver...

"Shadow..." Silver said to his quiet friend.

For a second, Shadow was quiet, then at last, he announced, "Whatever this voice is talking about, it's something we can't ignore. If it spoke to you in a dream, then I suggest you go to bed early tonight and see what else it can tell you."

Silver nodded, agreeing it was a good idea. "But what do we do about it now?" he asked.

"Right now, we continue looking for the Chaos Emeralds," he said, his gaze overlooking the desert horizon. "Hopefully, we'll find them soon..."

"What about Aurora and Waya?" Silver thought. "Shouldn't I tell them?"

"Yes," he replied. "The minute you get back. Remember, Aurora, although she wasn't afraid to tell you about her dreams regarding your life, she knew you had to know for your sake."

Silver nodded in agreement. They knew they must all be prepared for whatever was coming after Aurora. As Shadow and Silver kept going, they thought about the friends whom they had lost to monsters a while back. Shadow's best friend Maria risked her life to save his life and Molly was lost in the stars to fight for her and her world's freedom and left Shadow heartbroken twice as much. Silver lost his trusted alley Blaze to a monster that had destroyed their home in the future and was lost in another dimension.

When they met Aurora who reminded so much of their lost friends, they grew protective of her and were determined to keep her out of harm's way... They just wished what was harm the voice was talking to Silver about...

* * *

On an island far away in the middle of the sea, although it was daylight, the place was horrible and terrifying for the trees had no sigh of life. No leaves and the ground had no grass or trees and the sands on the beach were gray.

The only creatures living on the island were owls and bats which were all asleep, waiting for night to come so they can search for prey...but there was one predator that seemed too desperate and impatient to wait for nighttime to wait to catch its prey.

In a cave, there was a shadow with such horrifying yellowish green eyes that stood out in the darkness. All it could think about was the girl and white hedgehog he had seen disappear in the night sky the other evening. It remembered the young hedgehog and it was looking forward to seeing him and the girl again, but the girl he was really dying to meet. She had something he was starving for and it was willing it to steal it from her by any means possible.

And once it gets what she still has now...that menacing shadow would use it to get rid of the white hedgehog and everyone and everything he holds so dear to him.


	2. A Wolf's Heart

**Chapter 2: A Wolf's Heart**

Back at Forgotten Peak, it was just Aurora and Waya as they stroll through the woods, checking on the plants to make sure they were grown and fresh should they need herbs for any injuries and illnesses that may come.

They were greeted by their usual bird, rabbit, and squirrel friends who were not the least afraid of Waya because they could sense he was a gentle kind boy beneath that white fur.

"How are you guys doin' today?" Aurora asked, stroking a rabbit between his ears.

"We're fine, thank you," the rabbit replied.

Aurora froze and her eyes widened in shock at the rabbit's response. Waya noticed her stillness and asked concernedly, "Are you all right, Aurora?"

Aurora blinked and said quietly, "I...I think I heard this rabbit talk to me."

"You did?" Waya replied in surprise.

"Yeah, he said 'we're fine, thank you'," she answered, eyes still on the rabbit whose tail tilted in confusion.

"Are you sure?" Waya asked.

"I...I think so..." she nodded slowly. Then she remembered when she heard Waya talk like a person and deduced, "Say, what if since my aura's stronger, I can not hear you talk, but all animals talk?"

"Whoa, really?" Waya said in amazement.

"Yeah." Turning to the critters, she asked, "Say, uh, my little friends, how are you enjoyin' life in the mountains?"

"We love it, thank you for asking," answered a squirrel beside Waya.

"Yes," agreed a Cassin's Finch on Aurora's shoulder. "Nothing eats us and no one causes trouble."

"And thankfully, visitors such as yourselves and your bigger furry friends are respectful to our environment," a Stellar's Jay on Waya's head finished.

"What'd they say, Aurora?" Waya asked curiously.

"The squirrel with you says they love it here on the mountains," she explained, "and this Cassin's Finch says they like having a home that doesn't have anything that'd eat them and or people causing trouble and this Stellar's Jay says they appreciate us and our friends for being respectful to their environment."

"Wow, this is so...incredible!" Waya said in awe, his eyes wide with excitement.

"I know," she replied delightfully. "I've always wanted to understand animals and now I can." Then her giddiness paused for a moment and she blinked in thought. "Say, hang on, can't you understand them, too?" she asked Waya. "After all...you are an animal yourself."

"I know, but even though I sound like a wolf to everyone's ears except yours, I can't understand what other animals are saying," he explained regretfully, "Besides, if I did, I would've told you a long time ago."

"Good point," Aurora nodded. "Still...I can't believe what I can do with my aura now."

For a while, Aurora exchanged some words with the little animals and happily translated to a fascinated Waya, answering their questions and explained to them about themselves. At first they thought it was weird that a boy like Waya had turned into a wolf, but they did believe, though, since they would sense how humane he behaves. Then the little furry critters bid the young friends a 'see you later.'

"Boy, I can't wait to tell Silver," Aurora said excitedly. "He's gonna be so astounded."

"I'll bet," Waya agreed.

"I wonder how the search is goin', anyway," Aurora wondered.

"Hopefully well," Waya replied.

They took a walk around the lake, enjoying the sunlight's reflection bouncing on the surface of the water.

"Man, how wonderful is this?" Aurora asked, admiring the view.

"Very wonderful," Waya answered, "I can't imagine a place better than this."

"What about the pictures in my iPod?" she questioned. She carried a music player that holds pictures from her home world of mountains, lakes, oceans, waterfalls, grassy plains, deserts, and cloudy skies. She was always a nature lover and Waya was just the same.

"Well, those places from your world are no doubt beautiful," Waya admitted, "but still...I feel more at home here than anywhere else."

"I see what you mean," she nodded. "To have a place like this and see much of it as much as you want, there's nothin' like it."

"Exactly," Waya agreed.

As Aurora kept watching, she remembered what Silver told them about Mobius not looking like this at all and that brought grief to her at the thought of Mobius being desolate and ruined...

Waya noticed the sorrowful look in her eyes and asked in concern, "What's wrong?"

"It's...it's all of this..." she answered, motioning her arms to the lake and trees around them, "It's the idea of all of this dying someday in Mobius...and everyone suffering so much during that time."

Waya understood what she meant and looked down, not liking the thought of that at all, either. Nature was always what he was about. He was more at one with nature than Aurora was herself. To think, all of this magnificent beautiful life being destroyed in the future...

Aurora looked up in the sky, thinking about the pain and ruin this world would go through someday. And when she thought about the people losing such a wonderful lovely world to the flames of a monster...the thought of children being born into a world like that...brought a tear to her eye and rolled down her face.

Waya saw the tear fall down to the ground and looked up to see Aurora crying and knew she was thinking about the terrible future. He took a step towards her and reached his paw to gently touch her arm, asking her to sit down next to him.

He knew he didn't have the hands to wipe away her tears, so he nuzzled his furry white face against her face to brush them dry. Aurora wasn't uncomfortable since she understood why he did it and let him do what he was doin'.

"Aurora..." he whispered in her ear, "it'll be all right. I know the future will be a nightmare...but you should also remember what'll happen afterwards. Silver and Blaze defeated their enemy Iblis. All there remains to be done is to help restore the planet's health...and to make that happen, we need all eight Chaos Emeralds."

He nuzzled her head reassuringly which she did appreciate. "We already have six," he went on quietly, "Once we have the last two, everything will be all right. So don't be worried about the bad things that'll happen but think about the good things that'll follow."

Aurora knew he was right. After all, the night can only last for so long...and then the sun will rise to bring forth a beautiful dawn full of hope. She grinned and smiled and murmured in Waya's pointed ear, "Thanks, Waya."

"Sure thing," he said, glad to hear she was feeling a bit better about this and kept nuzzling her face. From what Aurora could remember, when she was unconscious after using the green emerald to save Silver, she felt someone nuzzling her face caringly like this and knew it was Waya. Honestly, this felt even better than it did then.

She let him rub his face on hers for a while...until Waya realized how long he'd been doing this and pulled his head away from hers. To Aurora, it seemed like he was nervous when he fur fluffed up, making him look larger.

"You all right, Waya?" she asked curiously.

"I'm fine," he answered straightforwardly, not looking at her as he smoothed his fur.

Aurora titled her head in wonder, but let it go and rested her back on the ground. "Let's sit a bit," she suggested softly, her eyes closed.

"Okay," he replied as he rested his front on the ground beside, resting his head on his paws. As Aurora had her hands behind her head, her leg resting on her knee, swinging her foot in the air, Waya still felt flustered by touching her like that... Although, she didn't seem to mind since she didn't stop him.

He was glad for that...but honestly, he was starting to feel something... What was it...?

He'd recalled the other times he felt different around her... When he soothed her feelings when she was missing Silver by howling for her and had her leaned next to him, when he kept her warm and comfortable when she was unconscious on Tails's jet the other night, when he licked her on the cheek almost thinking it was a good-bye gesture, when she kissed him on the forehead to thank him for leading Eggman away from her and Silver...

Then to his surprise, he felt his heart pumping hard. What was going on? Not to mention, he felt very warm... Was it the sun? But how does that explain his heart pumping?

He slowly turned his head to Aurora whose eyes were still closed as she basked in the warm sunlight. Seeing her looking like she didn't have much of a care in the world, despite how sad she felt about Mobius's future, that smile on her lips and spread out red pony tail on the ground shining in the sun...kind of made him smile...and that's when the warm feeling came back and his heart pumping again.

What was happening?!

* * *

**Hey, guys, glad to see you guys again. I'm sorry it took me this long put this story on the archive, but my laptop has been broken and I've been...lazy. Sorry! But I will be updating as much as I can with this story and if you guys have suggestions, please review me.**


	3. Beating Hearts & Pounding Questions

**Chapter 3: Beating Hearts & Pounding Questions **

Back at the desert where Silver and Shadow were going through, they found an oasis and started searching there.

Shadow looked through the natural undergrowth and Silver looked through the little pool of water. When Silver hovered himself over the cool clear water, he picked it up with his telekinesis which was much easier than when he picked up the large lake at the forest which Eggman set on fire the other night.

He looked with keen eyes at the wet ground and found nothing and then gently put back the little water. He decided to tell Shadow he couldn't find an emerald in under the water and help him search through the bushes around the oasis.

As he walked, he wondered how Aurora and Waya were doing right now. Actually, when he thought about his vision about the voice talking to him, he began to feel anxious about them.

He recalled his nightmare he had when he was on Angel Island with Knuckles. He dreamt he was flying in a dark field until he saw Aurora trapped helplessly in a net crying for his help. He tried to free her, but then shadows came out and took Aurora away from him.

Thankfully, he woke up from that nightmare and called Aurora that morning to find both she and Waya were just find. This time, he wanted to make sure whatever the voice said about something coming possibly looking for Aurora didn't find her. He called on his com, grateful to have his with him this time and waited, every muscle straining to hear her response.

"Please, Aurora, please, answer," he begged quietly.

* * *

Back at Forgotten Peak, Aurora and a nervous Waya who was falling behind headed back to the house for lunch. Aurora turned to Waya wondering why his pace was slow. "Too hungry to walk fast, Waya?" she called teasingly.

Waya whose head was pointed to the ground looked up suddenly at Aurora who called his name and stuttered, "Uh, yeah. Uh, no, just..." He picked up the speed and walked next to Aurora. "Sorry," he said not looking at her.

"It's all right," she assured, petting his head, "Some food will do ya some good." At her touch, Waya's eyes widen and his nerves felt tingly.

Ever since that talk of comfort at the lake, he'd been feeling very odd around Aurora now. Just one touch made him straighten up, almost like a soldier in fur...and yet...he couldn't help liking it...a lot. And when she took her hand away, he felt then disappointed and quickly matched his pace with hers again.

He looked away at first, then slowly looked up to her to see her face...and he couldn't help but think for the first time, it looked very pleasant. Not that it never was, he just never gave it much thought until now. Wait, why was he giving it a thought?

Finally, they reach the tri-colored house and Aurora asked a lost-in-thought Waya, "So, what are you hungry for?"

"Huh?" Waya mumbled since he didn't pay attention.

"What are you hungry for?" she repeated slowly and clearly.

"Oh, uh, anything," he answered quickly. "S-suprise me."

Aurora tilted her head, wondering what was wrong, but asked no more as they headed in, only to be stopped at a beep that made Waya jump almost two feet from the ground and yelp.

"Waya, chill," she soothed her spooked wolf friend, "It's just my com." What was going on with him today, she wondered, but she didn't ask and answered the call to see who it was. "Hello?"

"Aurora," said a voice which she recognized as Silver's.

"Silver, what's up?" she asked curiously at his sudden call.

"Uh...nothing," he replied trying to be casual. "Just calling to see how you and Waya are doing."

"We're fine," she replied. "We just came back to the house and we were gonna make lunch."

"Oh, you're back at the house already," Silver noted, sounding to Aurora's confusion, relieved.

"Yeah..." she said, getting suspicious. "So...how's the emerald hunt goin'?"

"We haven't found anything yet," he explained, "Shadow and I split up from Sonic and Tails in a desert to find the last two Chaos Emeralds, but I thought I'd call and...check on things."

"Well, things are fine here," she assured, though she wondered if there was more to Silver's call than he was telling.

"That's good to hear," he replied. "Uh, well, I'm gonna let you guys eat now. Sorry to bother you."

"It's...quite all right," she said, getting curious by the second. "Bye."

"Bye."

Aurora looked at her com after the call ended with a confused raised eyebrow. First Waya was acting strange and now Silver. Was the heat getting to them or something?

"Well, that was a little weird," she remarked, "Come on, let's go eat."

Waya obeyed and followed her inside, although he was still in a daze at his behavior around Aurora, he also wondered what was up with Silver's call. To him, he sounded kind of concerned... About what?

* * *

Silver sighed in relief after the call, grateful nothing happened to Aurora and Waya, after all... Actually, that wasn't enough for him. He still felt uncomfortable knowing Aurora and Waya were alone after the voice in his dream warned him of "something" coming...

While he was standing there, Shadow walked up to meet up with him and saw him with a thoughtful look. He wondered what was wrong and when he came up to him, he asked, "Is everything okay?"

Silver jumped, not hearing Shadow come and replied with a stammer. "Oh, yeah, I just called Aurora to make sure..." He trailed off, looking at the sandy ground at his feet.

Shadow understood and said, "Are they all right?"

"They're fine, they just got back to the house after a walk in the woods." Shadow was glad to hear that, but the uneasy look on Silver's face told him that he'd feel better if he saw them for himself to make sure they were safe.

"You want to go back?" he offered. "I'll let you go if you do."

Silver looked at him in surprise, but he did want to go back to them, but... "What about the Chaos Emeralds?"

Shadow rubbed the back of his neck, knowing that Silver's telekinesis could be handy...but then again. "I think you'll be more needed at Forgotten Peak. Waya is strong and he and Aurora do have a bond, but he doesn't have your powers which can be more helpful in protecting her. I think it would make everyone feel better if someone with your kind of capabilities was with them right now."

Silver was silent for a moment and he knew he had a point. It would most definitely make him feel better if he was back with his friends to make sure they were safe. The white hedgehog nodded firmly and announced, "I'd like to go back."

"Okay," Shadow nodded back, "but I'll escort you back myself. We don't know who or what this mysterious thing the voice talked about is, but in case it's Eggman, we don't want him finding you on your own."

Silver understood and followed Shadow in the air as he ran through the desert, leaving a trail of flying sand in his wake. As they flew back, the young hedgehog wondered if it was Eggman again...or was it someone or something much worse...?

_Voice, I wish you'd tell me what you were talking about..._

* * *

Aurora and Waya sat down at the table for lunch and while Aurora was munching on her sandwich, she noticed Waya was simply staring at his food. She tilted her head and asked, "What's wrong, Waya? You don't like your lunch?"

"Huh?" he asked absent-mindedly. "Oh, yeah, I, uh..." Waya looked away awkwardly, not knowing how to explain his behavior.

"Waya, is there something troubling you?" she queried, her chin on her hand, looking at her friend curiously. "You've been actin' strangely since we left the lake."

"Well, it's just..." he tried to say, but his mind went blank and he was quiet again.

Aurora blinked, wondering what was bothering him so. Before she could ask any further, they heard a knocking which surprised the both of them. They looked at each other uneasily, wondering if it was a friend or...

"Hello?" Aurora called nervously.

"Aurora, it's me and Shadow," reply a voice which belonged to Silver.

"Silver?" she asked in amazement, opening the door to see her white and black hedgehog friends. "That was a short gem hunt," she remarked. "What happened?"

"We thought it'd be best if Silver came back early today," Shadow answered, turning around. "I'd like to stay, but I have to rejoin Sonic and Tails in the desert where we're looking for the emeralds. Silver, you know what to do."

Silver nodded, making Aurora and Waya look at each other in confusion. The black-and-red hedgehog bid them farewell and took off just like that.

"Silver, what was up with that?" Aurora asked. "What did he mean, 'You know what to do'?"

"I'll explain," Silver said, coming in.

* * *

Aurora had made a plate of food for Silver, too, as they listened to his story at the table. He explained to them that he had a dream last night of the voice, the same voice he heard that brought him here to this time to the two of them. The voice told Silver that he still needed to help Aurora and something was coming.

"What's coming?" Aurora asked, taking this seriously.

"I don't know," Silver answered sadly. "I didn't know what to say to you about it, but I'd let Shadow in on it and he feels if the voice which helped me get here was trying to tell me about something, we should deeply look into it. While we were searching in the desert, I got worried about you and Waya and that's why I called.

"Then Shadow came and he knew I was concerned about you, so he escorted me back here so I can make sure nothing happens."

Aurora and Waya looked at each other, wondering what this was going to mean.

"I'm sorry I didn't explain this morning," Silver said, not looking at them. "I should've said something so you'd be aware..."

"It's okay, Silver," Aurora assured, a hand on his. "Better late than never. However, we should see what this coming something is."

"If the voice says Silver needs to help you, then it must be coming after you," Waya guessed.

"What'd he say?" Silver asked.

"He said this thing must be after me since the voice said you need to help me," Aurora translated. "You think it might be Eggman?"

"I'm not sure if it is Eggman this time," Silver doubted softly. "I...I think it's something much bigger..."

Aurora blinked seeing fear in Silver's eyes. She knew he was scared for her. Just like she was scared for his safety when she dreamt of Silver begging for her help, the dream warning her of an enemy coming after him.

She gently gripped his hand, making him look at her. "Hey, we'll figure this out," she comforted with a smile. "We solved a crisis last time, and we'll solve this one, too."

Waya smiled, got down from his seat and stood on his hind legs, a paw on Silver's shoulder and the other on Silver's hand. He nodded letting Silver know he agreed with Aurora.

Silver looked at them both and smiled, gripping their hand and paw, too. "Yeah...we will."

"And we appreciate you opening up to us about this as well," Aurora added.

"Well, we made a promise to be honest and help each other no matter what, didn't we?" Silver reminded her. "And that's a promise I'd rather break again," he said in a serious tone.

When Aurora had been scared to Silver about her dream of him being in danger, but told him for his sake, the three of them made a promise to always tell each other their trouble and be there for each other whenever they were in need.

Silver had broken that promise by not letting Aurora and Waya help him and leaving to stay with Knuckles on Angel Island for their safety only to end up needing their assistance, anyway.

After that, Silver vowed to keep their promises again and he was happy to do it this time... He just hoped Aurora was right that they can solve this dilemma...and stop this enemy whoever it was that wanted Aurora.

* * *

Back in the desert, it was noon and Sonic and Tails met up at the spot where they split up from Shadow and Silver.

"I wonder where they're at," Tails thought aloud.

"Maybe we should give them a call," Sonic suggested, about to dial their numbers.

Suddenly, Shadow ran up to them, a trail of flying sand behind him. "Sorry I'm late," he apologized.

"Hey, where's Silver?" Tails asked.

"He was worried about Aurora and Waya," Shadow answered, "So I took him back to Forgotten Peak so he could take care of them."

"What do you mean he was worried about them?" Sonic asked curiously.

"Silver had a dream last night of the voice talking to him," Shadow explained, "The voice that brought him here to our time from the future. It said that something was coming and that Silver needed to help Aurora."

"With what?" Tails queried.

"He doesn't know. The voice didn't tell him."

"Well, that's helpful," Sonic said sarcastically.

"He said he's going to bed early tonight and hopefully the voice will give more details," Shadow informed, "but right now, he wants to be there for Aurora and Waya just in case, so he's out of the emerald hunting parties."

"Well, that we can deal with," Tails replied, "but about the voice's warning? What's coming after Aurora?"

"Probably Eggman," Sonic guessed.

"It might be," Shadow said quietly, looking up at the sky where the sun was blazing brightly. "And yet I wonder if it's someone else."

"Like who?" Sonic asked.

"I can't say," Shadow confessed, his head lowered to look at the desert horizon, "at least not until we get more information from Silver's next dream. Hopefully, Aurora may have dreams herself that'll be helpful."

Aurora would often have visions that'd tell her that was going to happen in the future, so if she had a dream worth talking about, they'd take it into serious consideration.

"In the mean time, we'll keep searching for the Chaos Emeralds," Shadow announced. "I'm guessing neither of you found anything."

"Nope," Tails answered regretfully.

"You?" Sonic asked the black hedgehog who closed his eyes and replied in a smart-alecking tone, "If I did, wouldn't I have said something?"

"Sorry," Sonic replied, his hands up in surrender. "So where do we look now?"

"I think we should try in a rain forest," Tails spoke, "It's miles from here in the south east."

"Good, a place with rain sounds better after being out here," Sonic replied, wiping sweat off his forehead. "A minute longer and I'll be a hotdog than a hedgehog, which sounds good right now," he added licking his lips.

"Worry about the Chaos Emeralds and your stomach later," Shadow told him, leaving them behind to go in the rain forest, leaving flying sand behind him again, making Sonic cough.

"Jeez, it was a joke," Sonic mumbled, wiping sand off his blue fur.

"He's just worried about Aurora," Tails assured him. "Not that I blame him."

Sonic folded his arms, looking after where the black hedgehog was going. "Me neither," Sonic agreed quietly. "First Aurora's having dreams and now Silver. This time, the voice is talking to him... Hopefully, it'll tell him what else we need to know... Well, better go after Shadow or he'll give us a glare for not helping him look for the emeralds."

Tails nodded and followed Sonic in the X-Tornado. As Sonic ran, his head was full of questions: Who was the voice? What was it trying to warn Silver about? And why does it believe Silver can help Aurora...?

* * *

Hey, guys, I'm sorry I couldn't update this yesterday for 4th of July, but here it is. I hope it's worth the wait. Any suggestions, please review. Until then, God bless.


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